Chrysolina cerealis

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Chrysolina cerealis
File:Chrysolina cerealis (Linné, 1767).jpg
Scientific classification
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C. cerealis
Binomial name
Chrysolina cerealis

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Chrysolina cerealis, the rainbow leaf beetle or Snowdon beetle, is a brightly coloured Eurasian leaf beetle. It is found in montane grassland from Norway to northern Italy, and from Ussuri in the east to Snowdonia (Wales) in the west.[1] It lives on base-rich screes and lays its eggs on grasses such as Agrostis capillaris and Festuca ovina, although it mostly feeds on the wild thyme Thymus polytrichus,[2] preferring the flowers to the leaves. The beetle is 5.5–10 millimetres (0.22–0.39 in) long.[3] with elytra striped red, gold, green and blue.[2] Females are typically larger than males.[3]

In Wales

Within Wales, C. cerealis is found at only a few sites on the western flanks of Snowdon, and perhaps in Cwm Idwal in the neighbouring Glyderau.[2] The population is thought to be genetically distinct, and the species is classified as endangered in the UK and protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.[4] The species has not been found since 1980 in Cwm Idwal, and some reports consider the Snowdon population of about 1000 adults to be in "serious decline",[2] while others say that there is no evidence of a decline, but that the species may always have been rare.[3]

References

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